View full sizeThe new Saraland Elementary School, which just opened in August, will get a new classroom wing added this year. (Mike Brantley / mbrantley@al.com)

SARALAND, Alabama -- With a bid of $1,354,300, Stuart Contracting Co. got the green light Monday for two school construction projects in the Saraland City Schools system.

The Saraland school board selected the Bay Minette company to add a classroom wing at Saraland Elementary School and to enclose a connecting hall from the main building of the middle school to a fifth-grade wing.

The work should begin at both schools by early February, according to schools Superintendent Aaron Milner, and the goal is to have the projects completed before the first day of school this August.

The new space at the elementary school will add nine classrooms, he said, and will increase the school's capacity from 1,000 to 1,400.

The new wing "is going to allow us to absorb the growth that is taking place in Saraland," Milner said Friday, commending the city's council, mayor and school board for "the vision they have for the city and community."

At Monday's meeting, the school board also approved the 2014-15 academic calendar, which schedules the fall semester tests before the Christmas break and concludes the school year before Memorial Day. The calendar also includes 11 professional development days and workdays during the summer break.